Beefy Vegetable Soup!

   So the other day I threw together a soup that turned out amazing! I was pretty proud of myself. I hadn't been grocery shopping yet that week and had some things that I needed to use up so I made this soup on the fly. It turned out delicious! Obviously I threw a bunch of stuff in it but you can substitute anything you would like. Maybe it will inspire you to make your own soup on the fly with stuff you already have in the kitchen! :-)

  I started out with some stew meat I had left over. I seasoned it up with salt and pepper and browned it in my pan. Not to cook it through but to "braise" it basically. 

I fried up a few pieces of bacon I had then set those aside. 

 

   I chopped up some celery, carrots and red onion and sweat them out a bit. 

   Then I chopped up the rest of the huge zucchini I got out of my garden and a few red potatoes. Then I grated in about 4 cloves of garlic.

 

   After I let that cook out for a couple minutes I added two cans of white beans, one can diced tomatoes and one can if corn. Add them with all their juices then add four more can fulls of water. I also added some of my cherry tomatoes and diced up some of my other tomatoes from my garden. 

 

   After I added all of that I thought why not add that little bit of ground beef I had left over. So I browned that up and added it to the soup with the stew meat and diced up bacon. 

   Now let it all simmer for 45 minutes to an hour so your stew meat can get super tender. About 10 minutes before I was about to serve I added 3/4 cup of my favorite pasta for soups. Acini Di Pepe. 

 

   Now just serve it up!!! 

   See how easy that was?? It was super delicious! Make sure you season this with salt and pepper to your liking. If I would have had some fresh parmesan I would have grated some up on top. Mmmm! 

I know it's summer but we love to enjoy all types of food year round. People think we are crazy because we BBQ with a foot of snow on the ground and eat soups in the winter!! I don't mind it a bit! ;-) 

  Hope you all enjoy! 

Mandarin Pork Loin Roast!

   So I have several posts I need to make but the other night I made this recipe and just couldn't wait to show you guys. This is something my mom made when I was younger and still makes to this day. I was craving it and decided to give it a shot. Now of course it always tastes better when mom makes it but I was pretty proud of myself for how well it turned out. It definitely hit the spot! 

   Start out with a boneless pork loin. Mine was about 4.5 pounds. Preheat your oven to 350. Place your pork loin fat side up in your pan and season with a little salt. Mix up about 4 large cloves of garlic (I grated mine up), 1 tsp cracked black pepper and two Tblsp dried rosemary. I used rosemary from my moms garden that I had dried out. 

   

   Spread that mixture over the fat of the pork evenly. 

   Bake this at 350 for about 45 minutes. 

Mix up your glaze while this is baking and let it sit and marinate together. 

Stir together:

1/2 cup orange marmalade

6 Tblsp orange juice. (I used fresh)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

2 Tblsp honey

2 1/2 tsp ground mustard

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

2 large cloves of garlic (I grated mine)

  Stir together and let it sit until you pull the pork out.

 

   Pull the pork out after 45 minutes. It will have a beautiful crust from your rosemary, garlic and pepper rub. 

 

Pour 3/4 of the glaze over the pork loin then top it with 1 can of drained mandarin oranges. (As you can tell I used two cans but it's totally up to you!) 

Bake for another 30-45 minutes (pour the rest of your glaze on about half way through) or until your pork is 145 degrees or so.  If you cook it anymore than 150 your pork can become dry. Mine came out at about 145 and was very moist. 

 

   Make sure you let the pork loin rest for about 10 minutes before slicing into it so the juices can redistribute. 

Serve it up with some mashed potatoes and veggies! 

Oh and don't forget to use some of the drippings to spoon over the pork after you plate it up! 

   This recipe is SO delicious! If you try it out please let me know how you liked it! 

Shout out to my mom for giving me the memories of so many delicious home cooked meals!! :-)

Mandarin Pork Loin:

4.5 to 5 lb boneless pork loin

2 Tblsp dried rosemary

1 tsp cracked black pepper

4 large garlic cloves

Pinch of salt 

1 can mandarin oranges, drained

For the glaze: 

1/2 cup orange marmalade

6 Tblsp orange juice. (I used fresh)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

2 Tblsp honey

2 1/2 tsp ground mustard

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

2 large cloves of garlic (I grated mine)